L'Adversaire

The Adversary is one of those films that you will watch without the slightest emotional expression, but when it's over you will feel as low as the protagonist. For almost two hours, relatively little happens in the film; we observe the "ordinary" life experiences of one man, with which a significant number of viewers may identify. However, as the ending arrives, there is still nothing substantial. It is almost beyond belief how the cold atmosphere, with its icy color filters on the camera and the slow musical pace by Angelo Badalamenti, is maintained by director Nicole Garcia even during the finale. Although it should be an emotional impact that could knock out weaker viewers, it stays fatefully slow and, in a way, inevitable. This is a film where thinking, as well as a certain amount of patience, will be richly rewarded. (23.07.2005)